Musical instrument.



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W M .m. x m m m u UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

vrcron n. mmnsomor NEW YORK, N. Y., sssmivon 'ro Ami-amen: ensrnornomi COMPANY, or BRIDGEPOBT, oo macrrcur, A CORPORATIONIOF wnsr VIRGINIA;

I MUSICAL ms'rnunnlvr.

Specification of Letters Patent.

\ Application filed September 20, 1912. Serial No. 721,482.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it'known that I, VICTOR H. EMERSON,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, (whose post-office address is 102 West Thirty-eighth street, New York city, New York,) have invented a new and useful Improvement in Musical Instruments, which invention is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention relates to talking-machines of the type intended rimarily for givin audible reproductions fi'om sound-records One object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of this kind which shall give improved acoustical results, characterized by richness and fullness of tones, and with elimination of most of the disagreeable noises frequently attending such reproductions, but without sacrifice of clearness of -defin1tion.

suitable inclosed sound-chamber, located inthepassage between the diaphragm and the exit, and so constructed and arranged that it will be responsive to and'will reinforce the entire range of tones, as distinguished from a resonance-chamber (technically speaking) that responds to only one note of definite pitch (or to only a few notes),

while remaining inert as to other tones.

The invention comprises the manner of mounting the mechanical, parts of the talk-- ing-machine proper,- in connection with the sound-chamber, within a suitable casing. And, finally, the invention further comprises the various features of construction and ar rangeinent hereinafter set forth and clalmed.

The invention will be best understood in connection with the annexed drawmgs,

which represent one preferred embodiment thereof, showing, among other things a so-, called disk graphophone mounted within an ordinary upright iano. But the invention is not limited to thls particular form oftalking-machine, nor is it limited to the use of a plianoof the upright (or of'any other) form.

owever, for the sake oflclearnesgthe in vention win be shown'and described in connectlon with a disk graphophone and an upright piano.

. Patented July 25,1916.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a-perspective ofan upright p1ano,.equip'ped with a disk grapho'phone swun the p ano-casing belng broken away; Fig. 2 1s a simllar-view of one end of Fig. 1, indipart way out, part of eating the graphophone as inclosed 1n the;

inner positlon; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the piano-casing, taken, above the levelof the. talking-machine; and Figs. 4

and 5 are vertical and horizontal sections respectively, through the oint or mounting,

shown on a larger scale;

Referrlng to these drawin s, l represents anend-wall or side of the ca inet or casing. i.

the weri' of an ordinary u right i ano-, havin overhanging keyoard s elf 2, the front panel 3, the upper front panel' l, and the usual -hinged top 5. 'The front anel 4 is preferably apertured, as with scro l-work (only a portion of whichis indicated), and

providedvwith a screen 6, of fabric; and is preferably hinged so that it can be opened more or less.

7 represents the back of the piano, which- I acts as a sounding-board; and 8 9 repre-. 'sent the plano-strlngs and frame,; wh1le10 indicates conventionally the location of the levers, hammers, etc., constituting the action The comparatively-shallow but widely-extended space between the sound- Y or Works.

ing-board at the rear and'the panels at the front constitutes the sound-chamber. for the talking-machine.

The "graphophone or talking machine,

proper) 11 is shown in this particular em-' odiment as located within one end of the] 1 inclosed space beneath the shelf 2; -More specifically, a sufficient" portion of the lower panel 3 is cut away to permit the grapho-; 1

phone to be moved in and out, and the cutaway space is covered by a piece v12 per- 'manently afiixed'to the front of the graphophone-frame as an apron, so that whenthe graphophone is inserted into place this apron lies more'or less flush with the rest panel 3, to completelyinclose the mof the terior.

and having the bearing-ringl l extending 13 represents a bracket firmly secured to the inner face of thezend wall" of the piano,

tends the stationary sou d-passage 15, shown; no

as dividing into two branches 16 and 17 respectively, which open upwardly into the sound-chamber in front of the soundingboard 7 (closely adjacent to, but not in actual contact therewith), discharging thelr sound-waves along the surface of the sounding-board (rather than against it).

18 is another bracket secured to the frame of the talking-machine and carrying the h0llow cup 19 that journals within the rmg 14,-this cup being cut away at 20 to afford passage into the sound-conveyer 15. The upper end of this cup protrudes above the ring 14, and is exteriorly screw-threaded, to receive the clamping-ring or nut 21, which latter serves to lock together the two members 13-14L and 18-19 which constitute the hinge-mounting for the talking-machine as well as the air-tight joint for the sound-conveyer. Upon the top of the protruding upper end of the cup 19 is swiveled the hollow sound-conveyer or tone-arm 22, whose outer end carries the usual sound-box 23 having a diaphragm and stylus.

To the plate 18 is secured the frame of th graphophone, as stated; and above the bedplate of this frame is located the usual horizontal turntable 24, in position to carry a disk sound-record in operative relation to the stylus on the swinging tone-arm 22. The motor (not shown) is suitably secured beneath the bed-plate of the frame, and may be a spring motor, in which case it may be wound by a key or crank as at 25; or it may be an electric motor, in which case it would be actuated through an electric-cable as 26, connected with a suitable electric plug.

, A suitable handle 27 on the apron 12 enables the user to swing the graphophone out, for substituting fresh needles and for removing and replacing the disk-records. When ready to play, the machine is swung back into place, and the apparatus started, as by turning on current or pushing the starting-lever. The sound-waves are conveyed from the diaphragm, through the v swinging tone-arm and the stationary soundpassage (or passages), into the her; there the sounding-board responds to all the tones, and moreover the proper piano strings become selectively resonant to their respective notes. Furthermore,,the resence of the piano-action or works (and of the strings) seems to blend the sound-waves in a most pleasing manner, while smothering the harsh mechanical noises (if any) while the fact that the piano-works are interposed between the sounding-board and the airspace surrounding the sound-box and needle, practically shields the sounding-board from all sounds except the music. If desired, the mechanism below the bed-plate (motor and gears) may be inclosed in a compartment of its own as 11; and the space occupied by the tone-arm and disk record may be shut sound-chamwhich is cut away to out from the resonance-chamber, as by a partition.

In the particular embodiment shown, the sound-chamber (into which the sound-waves are led) has as one wall a sounding-board of comparatively large area, while the sound-chamber itself is comparatively shallow. Preferably, the sound-waves are introduced in a direction parallel with the sounding-board, whereby the vibrations are diffused or blended together, and emerge through the screened apertures in the upper panel 4, or through the opening provided by raising the lid 5, to give a most pleasing effect. And, preferably also, the properlyattuned pluralities of piano-strings are parallel to the sounding-board. If desired, part or all of the piano-action or works might be removed or omitted' from the soundchamber, and so might some or all of the piano-strings also; and these parts might be arranged otherwise than as shown. But so far as we have observed, the presence of the works is not only unobjectionable but quite beneficial, while the is a distinct advantage.

An attendant advantage of the invention is that it dispenses with a separate cabinet for the talking-machine, permitting the householder to install in his apartments, which may be of modest size, a talking-machine as well as a piano, without havin to find room for two different articles of un niture. The piano serves as a handsome cabinet or casing to support and conceal the talking-machine (and also a piano-player,

- if desired) it affords the best kind of soundchamber therefor; and (and works) co-act to cal results.

The invention has thus been described with some particularity of detail, but only for the sake of clearness, since it is not limited to the precise construction and arits piano-strin enhance the acoustipresence of the Strings rangement of parts set forth, but may be 7 embodied in various forms and modifications.

Having thus described my invention, ,1 claim:

1. A musical instrument, comprising a cabinet inclosing a sound-chamber, a soundboard constitutmg one wall of said chamber, a plurality of tuned strings extending across said chamber parallel to said soundboard, and a talking-machine movablyl mounted within said cabinet and having a sound-passage discharging into said soundchamber adjacent said sound-board and in a direction parallel to the surface thereof.

2. A musical instrument, comprising the combination of a cabinet containin a sound chamber one outer vertical wall 0 which is a sound-board and the opposite wall "of ermit insertion of a talking-machine, a talkin -machine located 7 therein, two hollow hinge-members journaling together and secured respectively to the inner face of said cabinet and to the talkingmachine, a swinging sound-conveyor carrying a diaphragm and stylus in operative engagement with a sound-record upon said talking-machine and communicating through said hollow hinge with the interior of said sound-chamber, and an apron carried by said 

